Wondrously Alive
by Esther the Average Freak
Summary: What if Rose had been the voice interface in Hide?


And then the Doctor was gone.

He had flown into that pocket universe, and the girl – Hila Tacorian – had come back out of it. And then Emma had run out of strength and fallen and the wormhole and closed with such finality that Clara wanted to scream because the Doctor was in there, all alone, scared, and trapped.

Clara raced out the doors of Caliburn Mansion, down the grey steps, through the iron gates and past the threatening trees. She slammed herself against the doors. Nothing. _Do we have to do this? Again? _She looked up at the windows and sighed. "Oh, come _on_!" she nearly shouted. Another bout of shaking, and the doors remained stubbornly shut. "Oh, let me in, you grumpy old cow!"

A –_zop-_ behind her made her whirl around. Standing behind her was…. a woman.

Yep, definitely a woman. She was clearly outlined and in full color, but... transparent. Luminous and flickering. A ghost? No. She didn't look like one. Her shoulder-length blonde hair was neatly pinned back on the top, and she was wearing a bright pink blouse and black pants with a blue leather jacket, zipped up. Nope. Definitely not a ghost. Clara saw no black flowing hair or white dress. And, she wasn't pale. She was rather tan.

"Who- who are you?" Clara asked. "Are you a ghost?" Just to be sure. What she had seen today _had_ defied her definition of ghost, after all.

The voice that answered was almost mechanical. But it was still soft, with a thick cockney accent. "No. I am the TARDIS Voice Visual Interface." Silly Clara. Of course she wouldn't tell you if she was a ghost.

Clara stared at her. "What?"

"I am programmed to select the image of the person valued by the current foremost inhabitant of the TARDIS."

Clara assumed that was the Doctor. "But…. were you – I mean, was she – a real person once?"

The interface looked at her with almost sad eyes. "Rose Tyler is still living."

Clara wanted to ask more. Like, 'Where is she now?' or 'How long ago was she a companion?'

But she wasn't here to ask questions. Right now, the person with the answers was in trouble. Clara had a more important thing to do than talk to gh- The TARDIS Voice Visual Interface. And that more important thing was to save the Doctor.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Come on, let's go!" Clara said, on the verge of jumping up and down from impatience.

The girl looked at her. "Go where?"

Clara rolled her eyes. "Argh- you have to help the Doctor."

"The Doctor is in a pocket universe." The Interface said. _Thank you, Captain Obvious._

"You can enter the pocket universe." She said, about to explode from frustration. Honestly, you would think that the TARDIS would be smarter.

The girl pursed her lips, then said, "The entropy would drain the energy from my heart. In four seconds, I'd be stranded. In ten, I'd be dead." It showed almost no emotion, calm in the face of apparent death.

Clara sighed loudly. "You're talking, but all I can hear is 'mehmehmehmehmeh,'" She replicated hand motions to copy that. "Come on! LET'S GO!"

Perhaps out of retaliation for her disrespect, the girl disappeared. _Sorry._

Clara whirled around again and tried the doors. Still locked. "Hey, hey, _hey!" _She groaned, pounding on the doors. "COME ON!"

She put her face against the doors and almost fell over as the doors creaked open. She darted inside. "Thank you. Now, how do I do this?"

After she – and the TARDIS - had saved him and they were traveling off to another place in time, Clara had to ask. "Um…. Doctor?"

"Hmm?" He said, not looking up from the console.

"Who- who was Rose Tyler?"

He looked up suddenly, his eyes hard. For a moment, Clara was afraid. Very afraid. Afraid that he might snap, that he might leave her on Earth, or that she had hurt him. She was nothing if not intuitive, and something told her that the blonde girl mattered to him very, very much. "Doctor?" She said, when he did not answer. "Are you okay?"

"Okay?" He asked. "Okay? Of course I'm okay. I'm the King of Okay." He frowned. Tears pricked his eyes. He wiped them away. "Sorry. Don't ever call me that."

He was silent for a few minutes.

Then Clara said, "Forget I ever asked. It's not important."

He shook his head. "No, it's important for you to know. Like I always say, that's why we're here. Well, besides saving planets and people. But we're here in the first place to explore." He was silent for a moment, then he sighed, leaning against the console. "Rose Tyler." He paused, considering the name. "Rose Tyler was a friend of mine. Well, more than a friend. More like….."

"A girlfriend?" She interrupted. He looked at her. "Sorry." She said in a small voice.

"Yes, actually. She loved me, I loved her." He sighed. "I wish I had a chance to tell her that." He shifted slightly, a bit uncomfortable. "But everything ends." He said with a finality.

Clara thought back to what Emma had said. "Not love." She repeated. "Not always."

He grinned, then sobered. The Doctor and Clara stood there quietly for a few minutes.

Then Clara had to ask.

"Doctor, the TARDIS Voice Visual Interface – it took the shape of…. Rose. Is she- is Rose – still alive, like the TARDIS said?"

The Doctor's eyes lightened. "Yes, Clara." He said, clasping her shoulders. "Rose Tyler is still very, wondrously alive."


End file.
